I remember taking trips, as a kid, to my mom’s hometown in Iowa. It was a small farm town and it had the feel (as you can imagine) of movies that you’ve seen. Everyone knew everyone, and your business always ended up in the town paper, so you did your best to “keep your nose clean” to avoid embarrassing yourself and your family.

I grew up in Arlington, TX. It’s the largest city in the nation without public transportation, home of the Texas Rangers baseball team, the new Cowboy’s Stadium and Six Flags amusement park. We had a 3-bedroom home, modest, nothing over-the-top, but a solid middle-income family home. I’d venture to say the typical US setup, but what is typical really?

The past two years I lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia, first living in the small town of Blue Bell, stock full of gated communities and fancy retirement homes. I also spent a very large portion of my time in NYC, which you know is a booming city of movers and shakers, high-rises and small apartments.

Why the heck am I talking about the history of my dwellings? No, it’s not the beginning of a metaphorical look at my past. Alternatively, it is a look at the future. Communities (primarily online) are all the rage today. They have been for quite some time. Social media/networking sites have become the mainstream and new media and the social web is finally moving under the larger umbrella of just “business” rather than some new-found source of wealth and glimmer.

We are all a member of some type of community or another. Whether it is our neighborhood, building, church, softball league, office or online site, we are destined to form niche communities as we go through life. Just as our “real” lives polarize into various communal groups and organizations, is it really a surprise our online behaviors are taking the same shape and progression?

The real questions are what kind of community do you live in? What kind of community have you helped to form, and what kind of community do you strive to grow? Is it a small farm-like town where everyone is close and nothing is a secret? Is it a booming metropolis of contemporary strides blended with constantly evolving infrastructures and gentrification? Or, does it reside somewhere in between?

This has been something on my mind lately as I have thought about the type of community I hope to help grow both personally and professionally. The essence of being personal and remaining in-touch with each member, while maintaining positive growth does no come easy and I definitely do not claim to have it figured out. But, I do have a vision. I know what I envision my personal social graph to look like. I know what I have planned for Spych. However, these are merely blueprints for the community members to fully-shape and mold into brilliant existence. The community decides, and always wins.

The small Iowa town stays small, humble and closely connected. The booming metropolis continues to boom and evolve. Those who are initially planted in a community, eventually decide that their community is satisfactory, or they leave and find a more suitable one that fits their personal palate. That is, unless there is a catalyst for change, something that disrupts the natural community and helps to shape it into a new entity. Sometimes it may be a newly discovered resource, other times it may be a social or political uprising. Regardless, that catalyst can come from anything or anyone, and it is rarely predictable.

The future of the web will follow this trend. Though I see us all becoming more connected in one aspect, I also see a sense of need for further community segmentation. There will be great ease of entering and exiting communities and the ability for one voice to make a difference will continue to grow.

What kind of communities do you live your life in? What kind of community are you trying to grow within your business? Do you seek something different? Are you looking to change communities or are you going to change the community?